


Parallel Worlds

by chainedtothemirror, ohlooktheresabee



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fanart, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Inspired by Fanart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29802372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chainedtothemirror/pseuds/chainedtothemirror, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlooktheresabee/pseuds/ohlooktheresabee
Summary: Mycroft's little comment about goldfish gives Sherlock some troubling thoughts - luckily John is there to help him think it through.ARTWORK by chainedtothemirrorhere on Ao3andhere on Tumblr
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson
Comments: 22
Kudos: 54





	Parallel Worlds

“If you seem slow to me, Sherlock, can you imagine what the others are like? I'm living in a world of goldfish,” complained Mycroft with a gusty sigh. 

“What’s wrong with that?” argued Sherlock. “I like goldfish. They’re… soothing.”

“Soothing? They don’t do anything! If you’re lucky and you watch for long enough, they might bump up against the side of their tank - that’s about all the entertainment value they can provide.”

“Maybe they think we are just as boring,” countered Sherlock while giving Mycroft the side-eye. “I should think they’d find  _ you  _ terribly dull in particular.”

Mycroft’s nostrils flared slightly, but he gave no other indication he was irritated. He was obviously holding himself under rigid control, as usual. Sherlock used to admire it, study it, try to emulate it - but these days, he was determined to have a bit more fun. He decided to needle his brother just a little more…

“You certainly bore John.”

Mycroft’s eyes narrowed. 

“Ah yes, John.  _ Your  _ goldfish. Well, I say  _ your _ , but he’s not, is he? He’s not  _ yours  _ at all.”

It was Sherlock’s turn to try and keep his emotions from making themselves known - he feigned nonchalance, looking off to the corner as if he just spotted something very interesting. He should know better by now than to play these games with his brother. 

“Have a good day, brother mine,” Mycroft said, sly victory in his tone as he slunk away and out of sight. Sherlock continued to stare at the corner, all haughty disinterested poise, until he was certain Mycroft was gone... then he drooped a little in place.

“Sherlock?”

He heard John calling from the other room and wandered in that direction, trying to put Mycroft’s words out of his head - with limited success. 

“Sherlock?”

“I’m here John,” Sherlock answered. John smiled when caught sight of him, which made Sherlock feel at least a little better. 

“Wondered where you’d got to this time,” John said. “Any wild adventures today?”

“Dug around in a skip looking for evidence. Not much else... Unless you count arguing with Mycroft.”

“Well at least you enjoyed yourself a bit then,” said John knowingly. “What were you arguing about?”

Sherlock considered this question carefully. It wasn’t something he and John usually discussed, their being from two different worlds. He didn’t want John to feel in any way inadequate, but he knew if he didn’t talk about it now, it would fester in the back of his mind every time they talked. 

“He was talking about how different we are,” he tried. 

“What, you and him?”

“No, you and me.” 

“Oh.” 

_ Yes, _ thought Sherlock. _ Oh.  _

John looked a little uncomfortable, but to his credit he rallied quickly. 

“He’s just messing with your head, Sherlock. You know what he’s like.”

“Well, yes… but at the same time, he is right: ee live in different worlds. They’re close together, but…”

“But you can’t live in mine and I can’t live in yours,” John agreed, softly. 

“Exactly,” said Sherlock, something twisting in his guts and making him restless. He started pacing, back and forth, back and forth, and John followed him with his eyes. “I don’t even know how we manage to stay friends,” Sherlock said, frowning. 

“I do,” said John calmly. He was always calm when Sherlock was fretting - it was one of the reasons Sherlock liked him so much. 

“How, then?” Sherlock asked, pacing even closer. As per usual, John did not seem intimidated at all at this encroachment on his personal space. 

“We live together, talk together, share ideas together. You let me see the world through your eyes, and I let you see through mine.”

Sherlock stopped pacing, blinked. See through John’s eyes? He tried to picture it - wouldn’t everything look less ...detailed?

“Not literally, you idiot,” John said fondly. “I mean, you know the way I think. I know the way you think. So there’s a bridge between the worlds in our heads, at least.” Sherlock couldn’t help the quick grin that fought loose at that. 

“So what else did Mycroft say?” John asked then, and Sherlock’s grin faded. He sighed, started pacing again. 

“He said… he said you… aren’t  _ mine, _ ” he said, feeling twitchy. 

“Well… that’s true,” John conceded. He came a little closer, perhaps sensing Sherlock’s rising agitation. “You aren’t mine, either. I don’t think… I don’t think the two of us can belong to each other.”

Sherlock stopped again, heart sinking, though to some degree, he knew John was right. John seemed so far away at that moment, untouchable. For a brief moment he gave into his impulses, arched and reached out towards John, wanting to bridge the gap…

“Although,” John mused, watching him without any trepidation at all, “I suspect that if there _ is  _ someone we belong to, it’s probably the same person.”

Sherlock drew back sharply. 

“What? You think… you think we both belong to someone? The  _ same  _ someone?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Well…” Sherlock stammered, thrown. This was definitely not his area. “...who?”

“I think... if there is someone, they’re not in my world, or in your world. They’re in their own world, too, just like we are.”

This was all a bit much for Sherlock. He liked things he could investigate - things that could be seen, touched, tasted. The metaphysical and the great beyond were usually things that he scoffed at and avoided. 

He did sort of… like this idea though. 

_ “If _ …” he started, and he made sure that John understood by his tone that it was a big ‘if’, “If… we both belong to the same someone… then they probably saw something in us that they liked, right? Something… similar?”

John smiled again, and as was often the case, Sherlock immediately felt a little better about the world. 

“I’d like to think so, yes,” said John. “Enough to keep us together, at least. And that’s all that really matters.”

Sherlock stared at him, and John stared back - separated both by whole worlds, and by nothing at all. 

“Anyway...” John said at last, breaking the spell. Sherlock gave himself a little shake. “...Back to what’s really important - what did you find in the skip?”

And so Sherlock launched into the tale of his most recent adventure, with John listening avidly by his side. 

[](https://ibb.co/G9jqcQ2)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments always appreciated <3


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